[CLASS BUILD] Dishonored Mindstalker

[Stasis_Sword]

Corvo Attano was once the Royal Protector to the empress before her assassination. Following her death he was stripped of land and title becoming a vigilante assassin bent on revenge. He was brought to the Void In-Between by the Outsider Pallid Knight where he was given supernatural powers and a mission. Now he hunts a god.

 

 

 

Dishonored Mindstalker

Difficulty: Veteran v1.02

Class: MindStalker (Assassin* + Soul Blade**)

Race: Human (RP choice no benefit)

Background: Aedyr + Hunter (RP choice)

 

* Assassin fits thematically and gives several bonuses to attacks from stealth

** Soul Blade seem to fit the best but I don't feel as strongly about it

 

Stats (without Blessings):

MIG: 10

CON: 10

DEX: 15

PER: 18

INT: 15

RES: 10

 

Might is only at 10 because it's additive damage and we'll already have over +200% on backstabs.

Perception is at 18 because this build relies on burst damage and can't really afford to miss (also helps crit).

Dexterity helps us to get those attacks and abilities off faster.

Intelligence helps keep our buffs and debuffs up longer (including stealth)

A true min maxer might lower CON or RES, but I feel this build is squishy enough.

 

Skills:

Stealth is useful for a free backstab and pre-combat setup. Otherwise whatever you want.

 

Abilitites:

Disclaimer: The rogue abilities selected are heavily influenced by the fact that in the current version DOT abilities break stealth. In order to remain invisible this build avoids several good abilites: deep wounds, ring the bell, ect...

 

1. Escape (Blink), Whispers of Treason(Possession)
2. Backstab
3. Fast Runner (Agility)
4. One Handed, Phantom Foes/Mind Blades/Psychovampiric Shield*
5. Draining Whip
6. Blinding Strike**
7. Confounding Blind, Recall Agony
8. Deep Pockets
9. Dirty Fighting
10. Shadowing Beyond*** (Blink 2), Body Attunement
11. Persistent Distraction
12. Hammering Thoughts
13. Uncanny Luck, Borrowed Instinct
14. Ring Leader
15. Detonate
16. Tough (Vitality), Amplified Wave
17. Disinegrate (Shadow Kill)
18. The Empty Soul
19. Death Blows Echoing Horror
20. Improved Critical

 

* Phantom Foes is useful all game and has a large area of effect. Mind Blades are fun for early AOE damage. Psychovampiric shield is a useful buff/debuff. Feel free to choose whichever you want.

 

** I chose confounding blows for the stacking deflection penalty (for the whole party). One of the few rogue actives that might be a better use of guile than setting up a backstab.

 

*** Arguably the most important decision is Shadowing Beyond vs Smoke Veil. Shadowing Beyond is a better ability, but comes later and costs more guile per use.

 

Gear:

Weapon set 1: Modwyr* or Aldris Blade of Captain Crow

Weapon set 2: Scordeo's Trophy

 

Helmet: Cowl of Piercing Gaze (Closest to his mask)

Amulet: Protective Eothasian Charm

Cloak: Ajamuut's Stalking Cloak

Chest: Devil of Caroc Breastplate**

Gloves: Boltcatchers

Ring: Chameleon's Touch

Ring: Entonia Signet Ring

Belt: Ngati's Girdle

Boots: Rakhan Field Boots

 

* Weapons can be changed throughout the playthrough but swords are preferred. Swords have good base damage, extra pierce on their modal and fit for RP reasons.

 

** The Devil of Caroc Breastplate is everything we want. Good protection, extra guile and a recovery time equal to leather armor. Also from an aesthetics point it has sleeves. I don't like the open arms of leather armors. If you'd prefer leather armor Miscreant's Leathers is a good choice.

 

 

Strategy and Gameplay:

The key to this build is to play like Corvo. In a perfect world you stick to the outskirts of combat backstabing to build up focus then firing off cipher abilities. Repeat as necessary.

 

Axiom 1: You are not a tank

"When you see an agent you do what we do run..." Seriously use shadowing beyond or escape whenever engaged.

 

Axiom 2: Live by honor, kill by stealth

Stealth is your best friend. Enter combat via stealth, use your invisibility ability often and whenever possible flank.

 

Axiom 3: Use all the weapons at your disposal

Use bombs, potions, and traps to your advantage. Especially with high stealth you can place a trap right in front of enemies. Note: traps going off doesn't break stealth.

 

Axiom 4: Get the most from your focus

Soul Annihilation can do some nice damage, but its rarely the best use of focus. Amplified Wave, Ring Leader and Borrowed Instincts can really turn the tide.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Stasis_Sword

[Zargan]

Hey,

 

at the moment I try to build something like that what you did. But I like (for RP reason) to use daggers.

 

Will be daggers viable (not optimized OP) with that build, too?

And you wear plate on your chest slot. Is it not too slow for a "assassin"? =)

 

Leather would be the max for my personal preferences.

[rheingold]

Very similar build at the mo, except went Beguiler/Assasin. I'm not a fan of Soul Annihilation personally. It's loads of fun. Did get an extra weapon set for 2 blunderbusses. Really enjoying it.

[Stasis_Sword]

Hey,

 

at the moment I try to build something like that what you did. But I like (for RP reason) to use daggers.

 

Will be daggers viable (not optimized OP) with that build, too?

And you wear plate on your chest slot. Is it not too slow for a "assassin"? =)

 

Leather would be the max for my personal preferences.

 

Honestly unless you're trying to solo PotD anything can work. Dagger will have lower damage and lose the penetration for the sword modal.

 

That particular breastplate is chose because it has nice armor and -15% recovery speed. Effectively leather armor speed. Miscreant Leathers seems like a good choice if you'd prefer leather armor.

 

I'll add some notes in the gear section.

[Stasis_Sword]

Very similar build at the mo, except went Beguiler/Assasin. I'm not a fan of Soul Annihilation personally. It's loads of fun. Did get an extra weapon set for 2 blunderbusses. Really enjoying it.

 

I'll be honest other than an occasional soul annihilation and the concentration / focus bonus on melee kill the Soul Blade sub class didn't do a ton for me. Having played a similar build I'm curious if you have any feedback on the abilities.

[rheingold]

 

Very similar build at the mo, except went Beguiler/Assasin. I'm not a fan of Soul Annihilation personally. It's loads of fun. Did get an extra weapon set for 2 blunderbusses. Really enjoying it.

 

I'll be honest other than an occasional soul annihilation and the concentration / focus bonus on melee kill the Soul Blade sub class didn't do a ton for me. Having played a similar build I'm curious if you have any feedback on the abilities.

 

Well, without going to much in depth - you've pretty much covered everything.

1: Went with beguiler, I don't like either of the other sub-classes, not saying they are bad, just they don't work for me. I want to be able to cast a spell when needed, with soul annihilation using focus ends up being a problem for me. Ascendant while good, again I don't feel like wondering if this is a good time to cast or not. Beguiler is just much more flexible. Also as an Assasin, soul annihilation is not a must have.

2: Early levels, mainly crowd control spells, Whisper of Treason, Eyestrike, Binding and Puppet Master. Later levels, more damage, amplified wave, disintigrate.

3: Rogue, all the invisibility, disappearing abilities.

Normally just cut loose with an arquebus, follow up with dual blunderbusses from Serafen, then switch to melee, disappear, appear then wail away, or crowd control.

 

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Characters Builds, Strategies & the Unity Engine (Spoiler Warning!) 

[Musahaladin]

I actually really like this, is it meant for group play or soloing? 

[Stasis_Sword]

I actually really like this, is it meant for group play or soloing? 

 

I recommend group play so that some else (Eder) can tank and you can focus on stealth / flanking. It might be able to work solo if you have the skill / patience.

[Musahaladin]

 

I actually really like this, is it meant for group play or soloing? 

 

I recommend group play so that some else (Eder) can tank and you can focus on stealth / flanking. It might be able to work solo if you have the skill / patience.

 

 

Been looking for a character an evil playthrough that's also not cheesing broken game mechanics, and this fits perfectly. Will try it out with a full party on PotD.

[mosspit]

I, too, went Beguiler/Assassin. There is some synergy between the Dmg spike from backstabbed assassination attacks and Focus generation without feeling overpowered so far (~level10).

 

But yeah Guile is quite limited on the Rogue side of things and beyond RP purpose for Corvo, I am leaning towards Smoke Veil to maximize the chances to reenter invisibility.

 

Whispers is always strong. I also like Psychovampiric Shield - in my experience with a somewhat similar stat spread (more Mig, Less Dex) this build seem to attract aggro pretty easily so some defences will be nice.

[Stasis_Sword]

I, too, went Beguiler/Assassin. There is some synergy between the Dmg spike from backstabbed assassination attacks and Focus generation without feeling overpowered so far (~level10).

 

But yeah Guile is quite limited on the Rogue side of things and beyond RP purpose for Corvo, I am leaning towards Smoke Veil to maximize the chances to reenter invisibility.

 

Whispers is always strong. I also like Psychovampiric Shield - in my experience with a somewhat similar stat spread (more Mig, Less Dex) this build seem to attract aggro pretty easily so some defences will be nice.

 

Agreed Beguiler has some nice synergies as well. You can make an argument for all 3 sub classes depending on the build you want.

 

I'll add Psychovampiric shield to the list of 2nd level choices. Personally it never made me feel tanky enough, but it is a nice 2nd level ability. I wish ciphers had grimoires.

[mosspit]

Well, maybe I worded it poorly. Psychovampiric shield's +5 Res is really weak compared to the PoE1 version. +5 Res is better than nothing.

 

But also consider that it last decently long (typically > 15secs), casts almost instantly (0.5s), and it lowers the enemy's Deflection and Will. The later makes it easier to setup the Will targeting spells in the Cipher;s repertoire.

Edited June 2, 2018 by mosspit